The Milwaukee Brewers are said to “love the idea” of adding ace reliever Mason Miller to their bullpen ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
Miller is the best relief pitcher in baseball, but with the San Diego Padres not a lock to make the postseason this year, Padres GM AJ Preller has to consider moving Miller, who would undoubtedly fetch a monster return for San Diego if he were traded.
If Miller is traded, then the Brewers are expected to make a pitch to get him.
Brewers Want Mason Miller
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, while the Brewers are known to be in on Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, the hottest name ahead of the trade deadline, they also want to improve their bullpen, and they want the best guy available.
The Brewers, Passan says, are intrigued by the idea of adding Miller to their already-stacked bullpen to make it even stronger ahead of the playoffs, in what Passan refers to as a “superpen.”
“The Brewers aren’t exclusively focused on Skubal. They love the idea of Mason Miller joining what’s already a superpen. They are always in search of some slug, with a major-league-low 98 homers. The Brewers also know that in spite of the dearth of homers, they’re fifth in MLB in runs scored, so offense isn’t an issue now. In the postseason, when home runs account for an even higher percentage of runs than the regular season, it could be an issue, which is why absent a Skubal deal, Milwaukee will find another starter and guide its resources toward more incremental improvements,” Passan said.
The Brewers currently have a 67-41 record, good for first place in the National League Central and second place overall in MLB, just 1 GB of the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
Knowing that they are likely going to match up against the Dodgers if they go deep into the playoffs, it makes sense that the Brewers would target someone like Miller, who is the best relief pitcher in baseball right now.
Mason Miller is Having an Amazing Season
There is no doubt that Miller has been nothing short of incredible for San Diego this year.
In 44 appearances for the Padres, Miller has a 0.79 ERA with 2.7 bWAR. He has pitched 45.2 innings with 85 strikeouts. He has also paced the NL with 39 appearances and 28 saves.
If the Padres do trade Miller, then they are going to want a huge package of young players and prospects in return for him, and rightly so, given Miller still has three additional seasons of team control beyond this one for any team that acquires him via trade.
The Padres gave up a ton when they picked up Miller from the A’s last year at the deadline, and they would want to recoup what they gave up for him at this year’s deadline. Given that Miller looks even better now than he was a year ago, the Padres would likely do very well in a trade if they do end up dealing him, and with the Brewers having lots of valuable young players available to trade, these two squads seem to match up well in a potential trade.
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